Iraq: Rules of Engagement

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will publish the terms of engagement of the Coalition Forces in Iraq which are currently operative.

Lord Bach: I refer the noble Lord to the answers I gave him on 3 April 2003 (Official Report, col. WA 148) and 28 April 2003 (Official Report, col. WA 65). I am withholding the rules of engagement issued to United Kingdom forces in Iraq, in accordance with Exemption 1 (defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information).
	I am not in a position to publish the rules of engagement issued to members of coalition armed forces. This is a matter for their governments. I have no doubt, however, that our coalition partners fully understand their obligations to work within the framework of international law.

Military Intervention: Enduring Operations

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	After what period of time a military intervention, as envisaged in Delivering Security in a Changing World: Future Capabilities (Cm 6269), is deemed, for planning purposes, to have become an "enduring" operation.

Lord Bach: Our planning assumes that an enduring operation is one lasting more than six months.

Royal Military Police

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Royal Corps of Military Police has a necessary role in expeditionary deployments; and, if so, where they are included amongst the list of force elements shown in the tables on pages 15 to 18 of Delivering Security in a Changing World: Future Capabilities (Cm 6269).

Lord Bach: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 11 October 2004 (Official Report, col. WA 10).

Future Aircraft Carrier

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consideration has been given to the possibility of landing a C-1305 on the future aircraft carrier.

Lord Bach: We have no requirement for landing C-130 aircraft on the future carrier (CVF).

Future Aircraft Carrier

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What further stages they envisage will be required in order to complete the construction and delivery programme for the new aircraft carriers; what timetable they have set for the completion of each stage; and what discussions they are undertaking with industry as to the practicability of the consequent timings.

Lord Bach: We announced the extension to the assessment phase of the future aircraft carrier (CVF) programme and the agreement of the alliance principles with BAe systems and Thales UK on 19 July 2004 (Official Report, cols. WS3–4). Positive discussions with industry are ongoing to agree the detailed alliance arrangements and we are also drawing up a comprehesive plan for the CVF programme through to delivery, which will include the construction of the vessels. Our target in-service dates (ISD) remain 2012 and 2015. The main investment decision for the demonstration and manufacture phases is planned for 2005.

Iraq: Military Training

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What form of military training by NATO of members of the Iraqi security forces is planned; and how this training will be funded.

Lord Bach: NATO's training mission in Iraq is assisting the Interim Government of Iraq to train their security forces and already provides training and mentoring of Iraqi Joint Headquarters personnel. The North Atlantic Council has recently agreed to expand the training mission, which is planned to include further training and mentoring of personnel in Iraq; the establishment of a NATO training and equipment co-ordination group; support to the establishment of a training, education and doctrine centre in Iraq; conducting and supporting training in the vicinity of Iraq; and training at NATO training and education facilities.
	We expect NATO's assistance to be supported by a variety of resourcing mechanisms including national budgets, multi-national funding arrangements, Iraqi Interim Government funding, equipment donations, trust fund arrangements and existing NATO budgets.

Iraq: Red Cross Report

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 8 September (WA 157), whether they have now received the formal United Kingdom-specific report from the International Committee of the Red Cross on the treatment by coalition forces of prisoners of war and other persons protected by the Geneva Convention; and, if so, whether they will publish the report.

Lord Bach: No, we have not received a formal UK specific report from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the treatment of prisoners. Following recent discussions with the ICRC we do not now expect the ICRC to see a requirement to produce such a report.

Khamisiyah Demolitions

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the latest data from the United States General Accounting Office study will be used in recalculating the possible exposure of British troops to toxic gases, including sarin, from the plume released by the demolition of the Khamisiyah arms bunkers in March 1991.

Lord Bach: The Ministry of Defence will be publishing its own assessment of the Khamisiyah demolitions later this year. This will include all the published data from the US Government Accounting (now Accountability) Office as well as the US Department of Defense.

British Service Personnel

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many British service personnel were moved from Iraq in each month between October 2003 and September 2004 for (a) combat and (b) non-combat related medical reasons.

Lord Bach: Medical evacuation records are collated on a weekly, not monthly, basis so the following table is based on the total at the end of the whole week nearest to the end of each calendar month.
	
		
			  Number 
			 October 2003 47 
			 November 54 
			 December 77 
			 January 2004 60 
			 February 44 
			 March 55 
			 April 77 
			 May 75 
			 June 94 
			 July 90 
			 August 78 
			 September 49 
		
	
	We do not hold centrally details of the causes of medical evacuations and the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The figures, therefore, are the total of all combat and non-combat related injuries and illnesses.

British Service Personnel

Lord Garden: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many British service men and women were deployed in Afghanistan on 1 October in (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and (c) the Royal Air Force; and
	How many British service men and women deployed in Afghanistan on 1 October in (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and (c) the Royal Air Force were under the command of the NATO International Security Assistance Force Commander.

Lord Bach: As at 1 October 2004, the approximate numbers of British personnel deployed to Afghanistan were:
	
		
			  Under ISAFcommand Total 
			 Royal Navy and Royal Marines 10 10 
			 Army 450 690 
			 Royal Air Force 10 300 
			 Total 470 1,000 
		
	
	In addition, tactical command of the Harrier GR7s sorties is delegated to the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for the duration of the reconnaissance missions they fly for ISAF. These personnel are not included in the ISAF total above.
	Those Armed Forces personnel not deployed with ISAF are typically either members of the UK's national component command or embedded coalition officers.

Sonar 2087

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the full environmental reports of the first sea trials of Sonar 2087 will be available; and
	How they cover behavioural as opposed to auditory impacts in their assessment of the effect of Sonar 2087 on marine wildlife; and
	What is the status of any environmental guidelines that have been drawn up in support of the operational use of Sonar 2087; and
	Whether, in the event that the outcome of an environmental impact assessment on the use of Sonar 2087 proved to be damaging to cetaceans, the use of the system would be halted.

Lord Bach: Environmental reports relating to trials of Sonar 2087, including the report of the first sea trial of 2002, will be published on resolution of some outstanding copyright issues. This is expected by the end of the year.
	The global environmental impact assessment was produced on the basis of defining the potential for physical or physiological impacts on humans, mammals and fish and addressed methods by which they could be avoided or minimised. The behavioural impacts of Sonar 2087 on marine life were monitored during the June 2004 sea trial by an academic marine mammal behaviourist from Aberdeen University and will be addressed in the report on that trial.
	The in-service operational use of Sonar 2087 will adhere to the existing Royal Navy environmental command guidance (Interim Command Guidance for Users of In-Service Active Sonars to Mitigate Against Marine Mammal Disturbance).
	Should new evidence be found which suggests a link between the current method of deploying Sonar 2087 and a detrimental effect on marine life then we would, as a matter of course, consider what changes to the current mitigation measures should be made.

Naval Ship Construction

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they propose to publish in full the report which they have commissioned from the RAND Corporation on warship building in the United Kingdom; and, if so, when and how they propose to publish this.

Lord Bach: It is the intention of the Ministry of Defence that the report commissioned from the RAND Corporation on domestic capacity for naval ship construction should be published in full. We expect to give RAND the go ahead to publish by the end of the year.

Naval Ship Construction

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What progress they have made in discussion with the shipbuilding industry about the balance and timing of the warship building programme in the United Kingdom in coming years; and what is the next step that they envisage in such discussions.

Lord Bach: The Ministry of Defence is engaged in ongoing discussions with the shipbuilding industry about the balance and timing of the United Kingdom warship building programme. The next step will be to refine the detail in the coming months as work to develop an industrial strategy for the UK naval shipbuilding industry matures.

ASTOR Aircraft

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they can confirm that reported problems with the radar to be installed in ASTOR aircraft will not result in delays to the in-service date of that project.

Lord Bach: We have been informed by the prime contractor for the ASTOR project of difficulties associated with development of the radar and their plans to resolve these. We await firmer schedule details from the company that we shall then subject to detailed risk analysis to enable us to make an informed judgment on any potential impact on ISD.

Ulster-Scots Agency

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 7 July (WA 79), on what dates discussions took place between officials of the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Ulster-Scots Agency concerning the agency's budget; who attended those discussions; and whether minutes were taken.

Baroness Amos: The dates on which meetings took place between officials of DCAL and the Ulster-Scots Agency on the 2004 budget for the Agency were: 3 October 2003, 17 October 2003, 30 October 2003 and 6 November 2003.
	There are paper records relating to all of these meetings. Under Part 2, paragraph 2 (internal discussion and advice) of the code of practice on access to government information, it would be inappropriate to provide minutes of these meetings.
	There was a mistake in the Written Answer on 7 July 2004 (WA 79). While DCAL officials attended the five meetings mentioned, Ulster-Scots Agency officials were present at only four of those meetings.
	Furthermore due to an administrative error the answer given on 22 June 2004 (WA 113) was incomplete. The answer should have read as follows:
	"As a result of a typographical error the answer given on 22 April 2004 (WA 55), incorrectly stated that a Meeting took place on 2 October 2003 rather than 3 October 2003. The Meeting on 3 October 2003 was also omitted from my answer given to the noble Lord on 22 March 2004. (WA 73).
	The meeting on 3 October 2003 was held in the offices of DCRGA in Dublin and involved officials from DCAL, DCRGA, the Irish Language Agency and the Ulster-Scots Agency.
	I should also clarify that the meeting on 18 September 2003, as included in the answer given on 22 April 2004 (WA 55) was held at DCAL and solely involved officials from the two sponsor departments, DCAL and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DCRGA). Irish Language Agency officials were not present at that Meeting.
	In relation to providing copies of the minutes of these meetings I refer the noble Lord to the answer given on 23 April 2004 (WA 63)."
	Additionally the Answers given on 12 July 2004 (WA 115) and 22 July 2004 (WA 64) referred to this incomplete answer and all references to the answers given on 22 March 2004 (WA 73) and 22 June 2004 (WA 113) should now refer to the wording above. I apologise for these errors. I understand that the Minister with responsibility for Culture, Arts and Leisure is writing separately to the noble Lord apologising for these errors.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Lord Eames: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have expressed or intend to express a view to the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on the future of the full-time reserve of the Police Service; and if so, what was the nature of that advice.

Baroness Amos: The Government accepted, subject to the security situation, the recommendation in the Patten report that "the future police service should not include a Full Time Reserve".
	Following a review by the Chief Constable, he announced his decision on the future of the full-time reserve on 9 September, at a special meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. 680 officers of the current establishment of 1,487 will be retained on a three year contract from 1 April 2005. The remaining officers will be released in a phased manner across an 18-month period. The Chief Constable made entirely clear that his decision was taken on operational grounds. The Government fully support the decision.
	The Government recognise the major contribution that members of the reserve have made to the maintenance of law and order in Northern Ireland and the high price that they and many of their families have had to pay in doing so.
	The Government have agreed that officers who leave the reserve will be entitled to a generous severance package that will provide substantial financial benefits and access to extensive retraining opportunities. The provision of an extensive period of paid retraining will enable all officers to explore new opportunities more fully.

Northern Ireland: Ulster Canal

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proposals Waterways Ireland has for the Ulster Canal.

Baroness Amos: Waterways Ireland has submitted an updated feasibility study into the reopening of the Ulster Canal and an assessment of potential funding opportunities to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. No decision on the study has been made by the two Governments.

Armagh Integrated College

Lord Kilclooney: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	(a) what is the enrolment in the new integrated secondary school in Armagh City; (b) whether this enrolment is below or above the target required; (c) what percentage of these pupils are Protestant and what percentage are Roman Catholic; and (d) what public funding will be given to this secondary school in the present academic year.

Baroness Amos: Armagh Integrated College opened on 1 September, in temporary premises on the second floor of the Old City Hospital Building in Armagh with an enrolment of 50. This fulfilled the minimum enrolment viability criteria for new grant-maintained post-primary schools (a minimum of 50 pupils taking up allocated places in year 8). Thirty-two per cent of the pupils are Protestant and 62 per cent are Roman Catholic. Schools in Northern Ireland are funded on a financial year basis and the school will receive recurrent (i.e. local management of schools (LMS)) funding of some £150,000 for the period September 2004 to March 2005. The school will not be eligible for capital grant until it has established its longer-term viability, usually over a three-year period.

Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In each year since 2000 what consultants the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has employed to help in the assessment of Waterways Ireland's business and corporate plans; and what payments each received.

Baroness Amos: The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has not employed consultants to assess Waterways Ireland's business and corporate plans.

Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On what basis Waterways Ireland places new engineering recruits on the salary scale; whether the policy has changed since 2000; and, if so how and why.

Baroness Amos: Waterways Ireland places new engineering and technician recruits on the salary scale in accordance with the policy and guidance issued by the Department of Finance and Personnel in the north and the Department of Finance in the south.
	The body has difficulty in recruiting engineers and technicians at the minimum point of the salary scale, as initially instructed by the finance departments, and in June 2003 the finance departments delegated limited flexibility to Waterways Ireland to provide for entry above the minimum of salary scales for engineers and technicians only.

Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether Waterways Ireland is staffed to the level agreed at the organisation's creation in 1999.

Baroness Amos: The North/South Ministerial Council approved the structure and a staffing complement of 381 for Waterways Ireland on 21 June 2000. The Body currently has 355 staff.

Ulster Political Research Group

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 7 September (WA 106), how and when the Ulster Political Research Group was informed of the capacity in which representatives of the North/South Ministerial Council were acting during meetings between the Group and the Council.

Baroness Amos: As stated in my Answer of 12 July 2004 (WA 118), staff in the North/South Ministerial Council Joint Secretariat acting in their capacity as officials of the Irish Government, and the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister helped facilitate meetings involving the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG). This was made clear to the UPRG at the first of these meetings.

Cross-Border Dumping

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proposals they have to amend the legislation governing the dumping of illegal waste from the Irish Republic in Northern Ireland.

Baroness Amos: Illegal cross-border dumping is a serious problem, and one that has the potential for both environmental and economic damage to Northern Ireland. The Environment and Heritage Service currently has powers to seize vehicles, although these can be used only in a very limited way and are difficult to implement.
	The Government are currently considering what legislative changes are necessary to strengthen the regulatory powers in relation to the seizure of vehicles as a means of tackling this matter, and are also considering how enhanced inter-agency working can address this issue.

Cross-Border Dumping

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people have been prosecuted in each of the past three years for dumping in Northern Ireland waste which originated in the Irish Republic.

Baroness Amos: Prosecutions for illegal disposal of waste may be taken under two main pieces of legislation. These are the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994, which are currently implemented by district councils, and the Waste and Contaminated Land (NI) Order 1997 which is the responsibility of the department's Environment and Heritage Service.
	Once this information has been collected from the department and each of the 26 district councils, I will write to the noble Lord.

Cross-Border Implementation Bodies

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will instigate an investigation into the relationship between the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the cross-border implementation bodies.

Baroness Amos: The Government have no plans for such an investigation.

Africa: Development

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether forming plans for Africa in conjunction with the African Union, New Partnership for Africa's Development and others, they will consult the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees about the needs of refugees arising from wars and dictatorships.

Baroness Amos: The Government, mainly through DfID, the FCO and MoD, support a number of African regional institutions including the Africa Union and the New Partnerships for African Development (NePAD). DfID's support to African institutions is to help them develop their own Plans for African development. UNHCR maintains a permanent presence at the African Union (AU) through the UN Liaison Mission at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. The two organisations have had a joint Comprehensive Implementation Plan on refugees since March 2000. NePAD is now part of the AU and we expect the two institutions' contacts with UNHCR to be rationalised within the new joint structure in due course.
	DfID's own co-operation with UNHCR is governed by a DfID institutional strategy paper (ISP), which was prepared in extensive consultation with UNHCR. DfID currently provides UNHCR with £17 million unearmarked core funding per annum. Also, the Africa divisions of each organisation have co-operated on specific refugee issues. DfID Africa Division has funded a number of UNHCR country-specific appeals. In country-specific emergencies the UN consolidated appeals process, of which UNHCR is a part, is one of DfID's key needs assessment mechanisms.

Ethiopia and Eritrea

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Prime Minister made any new proposals to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, during their meeting in Addis Ababa, for settling the differences between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My right honourable friend the Prime Minister discussed a range of issues, including the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea, with the Ethiopian Prime Minister during his visit to Ethiopia. The Prime Minister urged Meles to accept the final and binding decision of the Boundary Commission and reiterated that the UK stands ready to work with the two parties on this complex issue.

Olympic Games Participation

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which sports governing bodies in Northern Ireland whose competitors are in receipt of United Kingdom world class funding competed against Team GB for the Irish Republic at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: There were no athletes in receipt of United Kingdom world class funding competing in the Irish Republic team against Team GB at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Olympic Games Participation

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which sports governing bodies in Northern Ireland require their sportsmen and women to compete for the Irish Republic at Olympic level; which give a choice to their competitors as to whether they compete for Team GB or the Irish Republic, and which require their competitors to compete for Team GB.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The longstanding practice relating to athletes in Northern Ireland who qualify for participation at the Olympic Games is that an athlete born in Northern Ireland who qualifies for participation at the Olympic Games and who holds a UK passport, may opt for selection by either Team GB or Ireland.
	The British Olympic Association (BOA) and the Olympic Council for Ireland (OCI) have recently confirmed this agreement.

Freedom of Information Act

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, as reported by the Sunday Times (26 September), many confidential files are being shredded by government departments and police authorities in preparation for the coming into force of the Freedom of Information Act in January 2005; and, if so, whether, and for what reasons, they have authorised this conduct.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The Government remain fully committed to freedom of information. We successfully introduced legislation making access to information a matter of right for the public and are implementing this legislation fully 11 months earlier than we are obliged to under the Act.
	Effective records management involves the appropriate destruction of outdated records. No public authorities are being instructed to delete records or information that is of present use or worthy of permanent preservation in order to avoid providing access to the information from 1 January 2005, and the Government would not expect that records would be deleted for this purpose.

NHS: vCJD and Hepatitis C

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people the Department of Health have warned that they may be at increased risk of developing vCJD as a result of National Health Service treatment; to how many haemophilia patients the warning has been sent; and how many such patients have already been infected with hepatitis C by contaminated National Health Service blood products.

Lord Warner: In England, 15 recipients of whole blood products were notified in December 2003 of their possible increased risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
	For recipients of plasma products, the patient notification exercise was started on 21 September, and is still in progress. For people with haemophilia, patient records need to be examined to see which plasma products they have received since 1980. Clinicians treating these patients are currently examining records for around 6,000 people. This will take some time to complete. There are no data available yet on how many of those people have been notified.
	It is estimated that there are currently about 3,000 people with haemophilia who are infected with hepatitis C through contaminated blood and blood products.
	For people outside this group, individual risk assessments need to be completed once patients have been identified as being a recipient of an affected product. Trusts are working with the Health Protection Agency to trace recipients and complete risk assessments. This exercise is expected to take several months. There are no data available yet on numbers of people who may need to be notified.

NHS: Physical Activity

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many National Health Service staff are employed full time on sport, recreation and fitness initiatives.

Lord Warner: The information requested is not collected centrally, though many primary care trusts have staff promoting physical activity.

Red Squirrels

Earl Peel: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will ensure that red squirrels are included in Annexe IV of the European Union Habitats Directive.

Lord Whitty: Annexe IV of the Habitats Directive lists the species for which member states must ensure a system of strict protection, including prohibiting taking, killing and trade in such species. This system of strict protection is applied in the UK by means of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994. Although the red squirrel is not listed in Annexe IV of the directive, it is strictly protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. It is also a priority species in the UK biodiversity action plan.
	The department has recently begun reconsidering the scientific and technical information available on the conservation status of the red squirrel in other member states, and the best means of addressing the threats which it may face in the UK and elsewhere in the EU. As part of this process we shall explore the possibility of including red squirrels in Annexe IV of the Habitats Directive.